"Goose Bumps Moment" Behind Viral Photo of Patriotic Groundskeeper Outside Texas School

Teresa Neumann : Mar 19, 2014
Dave Urbanski – The Blaze

"It was phenomenal. It was an instant impact kind of thing. A goose bumps moment. To find out that he was 21? That really brought home the moment." -Garrett Hartman

(Cypress, TX)—Every morning at Smith Middle School, students recite the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a moment of silence. (Photo via The Blaze)

During that routine recently, something occurred outside the classroom window that caught teacher Samantha Nuber's eye. With her fellow teacher Garrett Hartman at her side, the two were reportedly so moved by what they saw they took a photograph.

That photograph has gone viral. And what is it exactly?

It was simply a picture of 21-year-old Clayton Allen, Jr., a former student at the school and now a groundskeeper for the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston.

It was what Allen was doing that stunned them.

Having heard the pledges coming from the school, Allen had dropped his equipment and was joining the teachers and students in their moment of silence.

"It was phenomenal," said Hartman. "It was an instant impact kind of thing. A goose bumps moment. To find out that he was 21? That really brought home the moment."

After the two teachers went outside to speak to the groundskeeper, he told them he had joined in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance because he feels "blessed every day" and is "so thankful for the day and the country I'm in."

Speaking to The Blaze, school principal Susan Higgins noted there has been a noticeable, positive effect among students and teachers since Allen's "patriotic gesture."